How To Remove A Broken Header Bolt Yourself

[sweet-94z28]

Recently, I was preparing to install a set of BBK headers on my car, and I had done all of the preliminaries (soaking the bolts in PB blaster several days and several times in advance). Well, I went to take out the first bolt on cylinder 1 and it broke loose just fine. Then as I was backing it out, it got tight and "plink", it broke right off. Well, if you are careful, there is a very simple way to solve this without pulling the head off.
Tools you will need:
1. 90 degree angle grinder
2. 1/4" chuck for the angle grinder
3. 1/4" drill bit
4. 1/4" broken bolt extractor
5. Crescent Wrench


OK, now you are ready to begin extracting the bolt. Take the 1/4" drill bit and put it in the 1/4" chuck on the angle grinder. You now have a short drill that will fit right into the tight space between the heads and the strut towers. Center the bit as well as possible in the broken stud and begin drilling. NOTE: Be very careful so that you do not drill too far into the head and hit a water jacket or go through into something else that would not be pleasant to drill into. I drilled mine about a half inch and it went right through the bolt. I then grabbed the bolt extractor and inserted it into the hole I just drilled. I then turned the extractor counter-clockwise with the crescent wrench and the rest of the bolt turned right out of the hole. What a way to fix a nightmare! If someone has already done this, thats cool, but I wanted to throw a new idea out there. I will get some pics of my extraction process when I do it on a friend's car on saturday.

[wise690]

Good article. Did you get the headers on?

[Greg Norris]

when it got tight after getting loose, what type of wrench did you use? ratchet, breaker bar, box end?

[sweet-94z28]

I used a rachet to break it loose and turn it. I did not continue on with the headers in fear that I would break more and I need to get some body work done to it in the near future that is much more important at the moment. i figured on rebuilding the motor this winter so they will be put on when I build it. Anyone got an LT1 block for sale??? I need one.

[Greg Norris]

the reason i ask is cus a lot of times, people will get an odd angle on the bolt when they are breaking it loose, or they will jerk the wrench to get it to get past that initial break. which leads to snapping bolts

[sweet-94z28]

I was on it staright and everything. I have been a GM mechanic for about 2 and a half years now, and I have removed several manifolds without any issues, but the SBC ones are truly a PITA.

[Greg Norris]

im not saying you did, just throwing it out there for the random person who goes about pulling their manifolds for the first time.

[MeanGreen94Z]

you have to be careful as hell doing this ON the car i did this to mine and the drill slipped and hit the threads, i personally would not recommend doing this yourself when at the point most put headers on the head gaskets on these cars could use a replacing anyway

[OVA1]

Man I feel your pain. I snapped 3 bolts on the same side...

But Meangreen is right about the headgaskets. When I pulled the heads on my 96, it had 150k on it and the driver side head gasket had several points where it was getting close. Who knows how much farther it would have gone, but it had gone considerably farther than it had left to go. That much we KNOW!~

[gabe74gt]

good post actually. thought it could work for me. but unfortunately no. does it depend upon the size of bolt......

[Tony]

Originally Posted by gabe74gt

good post actually. thought it could work for me. but unfortunately no. does it depend upon the size of bolt......

The bolts that hold the manifolds on are the exact same size as the header bolts. They go into the same hole. But, if your bolt is smaller (different application), then you just need a smaller drill bit, and a smaller easy out. You just have to be more careful cause you can break the easy out. And if you break that, you are in a world of hurt.

[archebald23]

I was going to mention the weld idea also. Just weld a nut to the bolt. Or the 'ol bolt extractor tool. these are the only process i know which works good for me as far as removing Mr Gasket Header Bolt is concerned.

[archebald23]

Originally Posted by archebald23

I was going to mention the weld idea also. Just weld a nut to the bolt. Or the 'ol bolt extractor tool. these are the only process i know which works good for me as far as removing Mr Gasket Header Bolt is concerned.

done a lot of work on this before settling on a procedure that have worked for me, extractor tools are very cheap and are found almost any autopart store.